ProSiebenSat.1 buys ATV

ProSiebenSat.1 has agreed to buy Austrian TV station ATV from its parent company, Tele München Group.

ProSieben said that the takeover will strengthen the footing of its Austrian subsidiary ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4, and that contracts were signed this week.

It added that ATV and PULS 4 would “reciprocally benefit” from the deal and the planned integration and restructuring of the businesses.

“The objective of the acquisition is to integrate ATV into ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 Group and thus to strengthen ATV’s position on the Austrian TV market sustainably,” said Markus Breitenecker, managing director of ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4.

ATV went on air in 2003 and was followed by second channel ATV2 in 2011 and video-on-demand platform ATVsmart in 2016. The channels are operated by ATV Privat TV and belong to Tele München.

ProSiebenSat.1 has operated private TV company ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4, formerly known as SevenOne Media Austria, since 1998.

The deal is now subject to approval from Austrian media and antitrust authorities before it can go through.

Tele München, which is led by Herbert G. Kloiber (pictured), recently bought a stake in US-based producer Storied Media Group.